Street Fighter 6recently concluded its first season of DLC with the raging demon Akuma, and immediately announced plans for a follow-up. While Season 2 began with the unexpected return of M. Bison, the most shocking reveal by far was the arrival of two guest characters, Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui.Street Fighter 6players should start to brace for impact, because Terry is just around the corner.
Terry Bogard is the first of his kind amongStreet Fighter 6crossover characters, with previous guests mostly limited to an existing shared universe owned by Capcom itself. Hailing fromFatal Furyand consistently reappearing inKing of Fighters, Terry is a legendary fighting game protagonist on par with Ryu himself. Likewise, Terry tends to pack quite the punch in his home games, and he may prove twice as powerful in his upcoming guest appearance.
Terry Bogard Will Make Waves in Street Fighter 6’s Meta
Street Fighter 6 May Be Following a Guest Character Trend with Terry Bogard
There’s already an incentive to design DLC characters to be more powerful than the average fighter, and this has already proven true forStreet Fighter 6’s Year 2 DLC. However, guest characters tend to take this principle to a whole new level. There is currently a strong precedent in which guest characters from other fighting games tend to be absolute powerhouses.
One great example comes from when Akuma himself left his home inStreet Fighterto trade blows inTekken 7. Akuma is infamous for beingbroken throughoutStreet Fighterhistory, so there wasn’t too much surprise when he was a menace inTekken 7. If anything, there was one factor that made him even more powerful than ever before. While the rest of the cast couldn’t jump, Akuma still could.
This was simply done to let Akuma maintain his traditional playstyle, but it had very far-reaching consequences. Developers made Akuma one of the strongest characters by simply allowing him to play with the rules of his home game. Thanks to recent gameplay showcases, it seems thatStreet Fighter 6is taking the same approach with Terry Bogard.
Street Fighter 6 DLC is Shockingly True to Terry’s SNK Roots
First and foremost, Terry retains all of his special moves from his home series. This is to be expected, but it already sets him up for success by giving him a larger arsenal than most of the cast. Terry’s explosive damage potential would already be enough reason to give players a scare, but Terry’s most powerful options come fromlifting mechanics directly fromFatal Fury.
With his Passing Sway target combo, Terry can dodge an attack by jumping into the background of the stage, then counter-hit his opponent from behind. This move is inspired directly byFatal Fury’s lane system, and is sure to give fans a headache. This isn’t where theSNK inspirationends, as Terry can expend Drive Gauge to empower his Super Arts. The ability to unlock extra Supers without spending extra meter is undoubtedly strong, and will allow players to wield immense damage output if they can safely manage their Drive Gauge.
Terry Bogard Has the Best of Both Worlds in Street Fighter 6
Terry Bogard won’t be released until September 26, but developers have already been very transparent about Terry’s design. Terry Bogard was featured in agameplay reveal trailer at Gamescomwhich enlightened fans about what to expect from his release.Street Fighter 6will be receiving a major update that includes multiple long-awaited features, but it seems that Terry may have the biggest impact of them all.
It’s rarely a surprise these days when a guest character dominates the rest of a fighting game’s roster. However,Terry’s guest inclusion inStreet Fighter 6is truly a match made in heaven. Terry is just the right kind of character to take advantage of the game’s Drive System, while still supplementing it with a few mechanics from his home series. These factors combined means players should keep an eye out, as Terry Bogard might just become the new top character inStreet Fighter 6’s meta.
